City of Swords
by Arianna Elizabeth Jackson
Summary: seventeen years after City of Flowers. Kids of Arianna /Luciano and Franchesa/Geatato. Please read!
1. Chapter 1

**City of Swords**

**A Stravaganza Fanfic**

**by Arianna Elizabeth Jackson**

Prologue

A tall man in a dark red cloak approached the Boars Head Inn. The man looked

left and right,noticing no one except a mangy dog, walks into the Inn. A deep echoing

voice that makes the tall man shudder says "It took you long enough."

"I am sorry master, I had to wait and extra day to get word from all our spies in

Bellezza".

" What's the news"

" The Duchessa and her family leave for Fortezza in the morning," the tall man

said, fidgeting with the edge of his cloak.

"Good, very good."

It may have to do with his masters voice, but the tall man in the dark red cloak

was suddenly very glad that he was not part of Duchessa Arianna's family.


	2. Introductions

Disclaimer: I am very unfortunately not Mary Hoffman

Chapter 1

Introductions

Gaetano, Duke of Fortezza, walked down the silver inlaid halls of his palace deep in thought about his daughter. Arianna Bianca di'Chimich was a blight on her father's sanity most of the time. Ari was always up to something or other. Just last week she had been caught drooping worms into her mother's maid's shoes. Gaetano had been furious when he found out, but Francesca had persuaded him not to punish the girl.

The duke had been so lost in thought that without noticing it he ran into Ari. The girl wore her hair in a thick braid down her back. Ari had on a light blue, high cut medium length dress. Gaetano saw the dress he assumed she had breeches on underneath; he was right.

Ari curtsies when she sees her father and says "Da, did you see Mum?"

"No."Gaetano replied "And what's with the use of the word 'mum'"

"Oh, that's what Om calls the Duchessa and I've decided to start calling Ma that." The Om Ari was talking about, Gaetano knew,was the daughter of the Duchessa, Ari's name sake, and her consort.

"I haven't seen her,but i assumes she'd be in the garden."

"Thanks, I forgot about the garden. With that Ari was skipping down the corridor towards the garden.

Omberta Silvia Rossi was bugging her father. Om was constantly asking her father to tell her more stories about the land he called England. Duke Luciano had originally came from England, as Om knew, but the official story was that he came from Bellezza like the Duchessa.

"Dad please tell me more!!" Om pleaded.

"How many times do I have to tell you Omberta,I can't tell you any more. Rodolfo and Giuditta have officially ordered me not to tell you and Davide any more stories about England."

"But why?"

"I don't really know, but Rodolfo said I couldn't."Luciano replied in an annoyed tone. Om had asked him so many times by now that the questions were seriously starting to get on his nerves. "If you want to get a real awnser,go ask your Grandfather."

"Fine, I will," With that Om walked off to find her Grandfather, who just happened to be the lead senator of Bellezza.

Luciano shook his head at the stubbornness his daughter was showing. One would not guess it when they met Om,who was generally very shy in public, but she was a very opinionated little girl. The Duke of Bellezza was so lost in thought that he accidentally ran into his mother-in-law,who was talking to her daughter.

"There you are Luciano, we were looking for you."Silvia said in a tone so different from her usual happy one that it scared Luciano half to death.

Mrs. Merringer sighed, another new kid. How inconvenient. New kids were always messing up her class. They always had to be told the rules, given those silly beginning of the year sheets, and be given extra help to catch up. While Mrs. Merringer was having her resentful thoughts, Elizabeth Ruth Latham was having some of her own. Her parents had to move back to England, didn't they? Just when Beth was finally getting some were with her Hebrew lessons, Beth parents, the English Ambassadors to Israel, had decided to go back home. Now all the hours she had spent studying Hebrew would have basically gone to waste.

Beth was walking down the halls of Bloomsberry Comprehensive, trying to find room 34. After a few moments of struggling, she decided to ask the girls whose locker was right by where Beth was standing. Gathering up all her courage, as Beth was a shy girl, she said "Hi I'm Beth Latham. I just moved here. Can you please point me in the direction of Mrs. Merringer room?"

"Sure. Grandma's room is two doors down past that girls restroom. My name's Becca Merringer." said the rather tall brown haired girl.

"Thanks Becca. Can I sit by you at lunch today?"Beth asked.

"Yeah. Just be warned, I an on the fencing team and sit with my teammates. Sometimes we eat in the Gym. Is that o.k.?"

"I'm sure it will be. I'm just glad I have somebody to sit with." Laughing at Beth's last remark Becca walked away twords what Beth figured out from her map was the English department.

'Wow, Ive got lucky today. Not even at Barnsberry two periods and already have a friend and prospects for a hole team full of others. I just have to learn how to fence.'Beth thought.

April gasped when she entered her second period Math class. The short, curly redhead standing at the front of the class was her cousin Beth. April had not expected to see Beth for another 3 or 4 years,sense her family was supposed to be in Israel for that time. Then Alice remembered her mother saying something about Aunt Abbi and Uncle John moving back to England.

April took her seat, still staring at Beth. Beth seemed to have gotten older in her looks. After everyone was settled Mrs. Merringer got up and introduced Beth. She then asked Beth if she could tell them something about herself. Beth stood and said, "I'm Beth Latham. I just moved back here from Israel Before that I lived in Botswana and India. I speak English,French, Hebrew, well a little, Hindi, and and Swahili. The reason I've lived in so many places is because my mom and dad, Abigail and John Latham,are ambassadors from the Queen to other countries. My favorite color is red,I love to eat Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and my cousin is sitting in the back of this room."

"Who would that be?"

"April" Beth replied.

Beth was walking twords the Gym with Becca and the rest of the fencing team. Beth was so nervous that she had started to fidget with the curls that had come out of her bun. Just then Becca walked up and said "You'll be fine Beth. Nobody will hurt you to badly if it's your first day."

"Thanks for the Boost of confidence." Beth replied sarcastically.

"You're welcome my dear." Becca said in a mock snooty voice. There was silence between them until they walked into the fencing coach's office.

"Whoa,who are they?" Beth said in a awed voice. Beth was refering to the two boy s in the pictures plastered all over the coaches walls. One was a tall coper skinned boy with dreadlocks. The other was a medium height, nicely tanned, black curly haired boy.

Those are Sky Meadows and Nick Duke. Barnsberry ledgends. Nick is my cousin. My Aunt and Uncle adopted himafter4he was found wandering the streets on crutches. These pictures were taken about two years later, after he had intense surgery and physical therapy. You see those two girls there." Becca pointed to a picture with a big crowd in the background. "Those are Georgia O'Grady and Alice, her best friend. The four of them were best friend. Georgia and Nick are engaged now. I'm not sure about Alice and Sky, but I'll ask Nick if you want me to."

"Sure," Beth replied warily. Before the conversation could go any farther Nathan, one of the boys on the team, came in and asked wether or not Becca and Beth were going to join Practice.

"Well be in the gym in a few," Becca replied, "I just have to get Beth a sword."

"Kay, but only a few. We need to start training right away." Nathan replied, then ducked out the door.


	3. Arrivals and Planning

Arrival and Planning

Disclaimer: I am not Mary Hoffman. I know it's sad, but I'm not.

Author's note: Sorry this took to long, I got too distracted by reading everybody else's work. Also has anyone read City of Secrets yet. I you havn't it came out on Tuesday and it is sooooo AWESOME.

Om was ecstatic. It wasn't often that her mother managed to join her family on vacation, but this year she had managed it. In a day, the royal family of Bellezza, Rodolfo and Silvia ridiculed, would be off to Fortezza, the City of Swords, for a glorious vacation.

Arianna Rossi squirmed in her seat. She hated riding in Carriages. Give her a mondola any day. Her husband noticed her squirming and asked, "What's wrong, Arianna?"

"Oh, it's just leaving Bellezza, Luciano. I haven't been anywhere in years. What if something goes wrong when I'm not there?"

After that last comment Luciano cuddled next to his wife and said, "Nothing will go wrong, Arianna. Tommaso will take care of everything." Luciano was referring to his wife's older fake brother, who was the leading Senator under Rodolfo and who was taking care of Bellezza while the Duke, Duchessa, and the Head Senator went on vacation.

"I know, but what about Frabrizio. What if he leads an army against Bellezza and we're not there to help stop him?"

"Tommaso will call us if anything comes up," Luciano smiled and then said, "and besides, we're going to a di'Chimich stronghold. If Frabrizio plans an attack, Gaetano will have to be informed. Then, Gaetano will tell Francesca, and Francesca will tell you almost anything."

Arianna opened her mouth to reply, but then thought through this information and realized that Luciano was right. Before Luciano could reply and tease Arianna about her worry rat tendencies, Om, who had been sleeping on the bench opposite from her parents, stirred and said, "Oh, we're there." Sure enough, when the Duke and Duchessa had been talking, the countryside had turned from the flat, river rimmed land by Bellezza to the hilly country boarding Fortezza. Arianna snapped to attention and started to smooth out the many wrinkles that had formed in her and Om's dresses during the carriage ride from Padvia.

&

If Om was ecstatic, Ari was even more so. She was extremely tired of her brothers company. Davide and Niccolo had a mandatory job of torturing their sister. Just yesterday, when she was actually on time on the way to lessons, Davide and Niccolo had rigged a bucket full of water, drenching their sister to the depths of her bloomers that she wore under two layers of underskirts. Ari had to go back to her room, take off the dripping skirts, and then redress, making her even later to lessons then usual. Ugh! At least when Om got here, she would help Ari get revenge. Ari was complementing different plans to use against her brothers when the Bellezan State Carriage rolled up.

&

Gaetano was excited. It was finally the winter visiting season. He had been wanting to talk to Luciano for months, but the other Duke could never tear himself away to come to Fortezza. The Bellezzan visit served a bad point to in the way of keeping the Duke of Fortezza sane. Ari, Davide, and Niccolo had been driving Gaetano crazy with their prank wars, and he knew that with the addition of Ombertta, things would only get wilder. Maybe Luciano could help him think of a way to get the kids to stop their war.

The Duke walked down the marble stairs and met his wife, daughter, and sons. Francesca had on green velvet which nicely complemented her eyes. Ari, for once, had her hair back, and now it hung down to the middle of her back. Francesca had forced Ari into a purple long sleeved dress. Then, there was Davide and Niccolo. Sometimes, it was scary to Gaetano how much his sons resembled him and Falco, except with the roles reversed. Davide was the handsome 16-year-old of the family. He looked almost exactly like what Falco looked like before he died. He was tall, good with a sword, and rode horses very well.

Then, there was Niccolo. Niccolo was the baby of the family, at 12. His slightly ugly looks reminded Gaetano of himself. Everybody loved Niccolo, especially Fabrizio, who was Niccolo's godfather.

Gaetano looked over his family with pride. Most of his wishes were fulfilled with this bunch. He only wished that Falco could see the family of his favorite brother, but the Duke knew it was impossible. Falco would surely be recognized.

Francesca was exhausted. The welcoming banquet for Arianna and Luciano had taken forever to arrange and pull off. The families were close friends, but they still had to put on a show of the formality between leaders of two different cities. Francesca sighed, fell into a couch, and started to drift off. Before she could fully doze off, Arianna came in and said "Cessa, can we talk?"

"Sure. What is it that's bothering you?" Francesca asked.

"Well, the only really important thing is Tommaso, being in charge of Bellezza. I'm so nervous. What if something goes wrong? And..." Arianna trailed off and turned slightly pink.

"What is it, Arianna?"

"Well, this is kind of awkward, but Luciano and I are a bit worried about Frabrizio attacking Bellezza while Luciano, Rodolfo, Silvia, and I are here. We know that he's been planning an attack for quite some time. I think he still has the warrant to arrest Luciano from when he killed Grand Duke Niccolo."

"Ah, I can see why you're worried. Well, your part way right. Frabrizio has been trying to attack Bellezza, but I don't think that he still has that warrant. He used it to arrest the Eel instead."

Arianna let out a sigh. "Oh, thank goodness!"

"But..." started Francesca

"Why does there always have to be a 'but' in good news?" Arianna muttered.

"But I'm sure that Frabrizio could think of an another way to arrest Luciano."

"Great, now I'm even more worried for my husband's life."

"We'll just have to protect him."

"You can say that again."


	4. The War Begins

**Chapter 4**

**The War Begins**

While Arianna and Francesca were having that heart-to-heart, in two other bedrooms of the Fortezzan palace, chaos was about to break out. Om and Ari were in Om's room, planning their first prank against Davide and Niccolo. This may sound like an odd thing for them to do on their first night of seeing each other in forever, but they had to be prepared, for there was a long standing prank war between the girls and the boys, and Om and Ari wanted to win this year.

"How 'bout we go to the kitchen, get some of those Green Peppers that your uncle Frabzio gave Aunt Franny and mix it in with the boys' breakfast?" Om suggested.

"Nah that won't work to well, Davide actual like those freakishly spicy things" retorted Ari. "Ooh, I know, what we could do, or at least what you could do. I have observed that my brother, as weird as he is, likes you. And I mean likes _likes _you. So, we could dress you up all fancy smanchy and have you pretend to like _like_ him back. Then, when you get him alone, you could smash a pie in his face, or something like that." Om looked horrified. "That's not even the best part. While your off distracting both my brothers, I can go into there bedchambers and look for diaries, and other incriminating stuff, plus short sheet their beds and steal there underclothes." Om still looked horrified. "Oh come on, you know it will work, and once we have the blackmail, we can use it all summer. Just think of the possibilities!" Om did and started to look like she agreed with the idea but then, realized the implications of Ari had said.

"What do you mean Davide and Niccolo like me?" Ari just grinned and jumped, up so Om wouldn't catch her.

&

Becca and Beth walked home to Becca's. Beth had already called home and told her parents that she was going to a friend's house. Mr. and Mrs. Latham were okay with that because they would be gone anyways. On the way home from a delicious dinner at Becca's, Beth stopped at a shop that said 'Mr. Mortimer's Antiques.' A display of swords caught her eye. After practice today, Becca said she should get a sword, for the meets. Beth knew she probably meant a fencing sword, not and old fashioned one, but the old sword seemed to call at her.

Beth entered the shop and was immediately hit by the amazing scent of fresh baked biscuits. Chocolate peanut butter biscuits, her favorite. Before she could go through the bright red painted door that the scent seemed to coming from, a deep voice said "Why hello there, child. How may I help you?"

"Well, two things. One, I was wondering how much this sword costs. And two, could I have one of those biscuits?"

"Why sure, here you are," the deep voice, who she later learned to be Mortimer's, said and handed her a biscuit. "That particular sword costs 45 euros."

Beth's face fell. She only had 30 euros on her, and she really wanted that sword. Mortimer, noticing the look of disappointment on her face, said, "But the student discount is 28 euros." Mortimer had no idea why he said that, but he felt that this girl really needed this sword.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're very welcome. The student discount does come with a requirement though, and that is that you have to come have tea with me every Saturday. Capesh?"

"I got you, sir."

"All righty then, be on your way. I would think your parents would be wondering were you're off to at such a time."

"Yes, sir," Beth turned to leave and when she was almost all the way out she turned around and said, "See you Saturday."

&

An expert from Davide Di'Chimich's diary

June 12, 1607.

Today, we went to Bellezza and visited Aunty Ari and Uncle Luciano and Om. Ari and Om had a great time, sneaking off to the practice channels to pretend to be mandoliers. Niccolo and I found them and a huge splash battle started. Something random that I noticed, but Om's hair looks really good wet. Isn't that weird? Mine certainly doesn't. It sticks up in random places and makes me look like the exotic birds in Uncle Frabzio's merincary.

July 14, 1607

Well, we're home. There won't be much peace though, for all our uncles and cousins and fake uncles and cousins and all our aunts (ugh, hide me! They always mob me and preen me) are coming to visit. This is good 'cause I wanted to talk with Falco about university. That's right, in a years time, I will be starting University at Padavia, with Uncle Frabzio's son, Falco. Padavia claims to have the largest university in Talia. I just hope they have a lot of extra money for repairs, cause Falco and I can get a little wild and accidentally blow stuff up. Also an advantage of Padavia, is that Om will be right near there in Bellezza. It's strange, but I seem to be thinking more and more about her recently. Why, the last time we were in Bellezza we went to the Marriage to the Sea, and I couldn't stop looking at Om. She looked gorgeous in the blue silk gown her mother had forced her into. Well, got to go! Davide's therapy is ending soon, and I have to go fence with him.

&

Ari grinned evilly. She knew about Davide's diary, and now that Om had agreed to her plan to distract him, she could find it and have tons of blackmail on her older brother. But first, she must rest and fell into her canopy bed (Francesca insisted that she must have at least one thing girly in her room).

Did you guys like it?

Was it horrible?

Do you have any idea for pranks?

Disclaimer: I am not British nor is my name Mary. Obviously, it's not mine.

Please go to my bio! I have a rather interesting new poll for girls only.


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